A visit with Subhana Ansari, Part 1.

                   Unexpected Grace (Subhana Ansari) Photo by Rita Mallon

                    Solomans Sunrise (Subhana Ansari) Photo by Jerry Pillow

    I have always enjoyed Subhana Ansari's introductions, so it was way over due that I do a question and answer segment with her.  Here is our visit with Subhana and some pictures of her lovely seedlings:

1. When did it all start for you with daylilies?  Subhana: It started in 2006, and it's been in 5 locations. (Subhana currently resides in Pinole, California) It started 20 minutes away from Bill Maryott.  I moved to take care of my mother when she developed Alzheimer's.  I had my seedlings a long drive away from where she lived, over half an hours drive to the coast to one location, and twenty minutes drive to a horse ranch where I had the other seedlings.  They did not get viewed as regular as I would have liked.

2. Which hybridizer influenced you in the beginning of your hybridizing?  Subhana: Bill Maryott was my biggest influence in hybridizing.  Bill was how I got hooked.  He told me to use the best parents. If you used mutts, you got mutts. He also said if you used the best parents, eventually you'd get something good. My first seedlings actually grew at his place, and he evaluated all my seedlings for many years.  He was a harsh judge. Eventually he liked my introduction, Breath of Compassion. I can still remember seeing it bloom once in my greenhouse and not knowing it was mine and thinking, "what is that?"  I was so excited when I figured out that it was mine!



3. What are some of the challenges you have faced?  Subhana: We have cool coastal weather in Central California.  I attempt to test my seedlings where there is "real climate" to see if patterns show when it stays hot, and if they survive when it gets seriously cold.  Also, do they have adequate bud count and branching?  Are they fertile?  Are they distinctive?  Do they keep what made them interesting the first year, and in later years? Finally, do they open flat?


4. What are some of your favorite daylily introductions of others?  Subhana: My favorites of others would include: Tully Mars (Hansen), Zyzzified (DeCaire), Four Beasts in One (DeCaire), Yumph (DeCaire), Ticklish (DeCaire), Cowboy Blues. Waves of Joy (Trimmer),  Angel Love (Trimmer), Positive Introspection (Hansen), Whale Tails (Hansen), Tattoo (Hansen), Tessa Ann (Hansen), Victoria Gardens Heavens Applause (Brooker), Geneva Afterburner (Hansen), Fried Rice (Hansen), Fossil (Hansen), Children Playing (Hansen), Yoga Man (Hansen), Happy Energy (Hansen), Jurassic Park (Maryott), Outer Space (Maryott), Shake Rattle and Roll (Emmerich), Xylophone Jazz (Stamile), Tricolor (Stamile), Marina del Ray (Pierce), Venetian Pools (Pierce), Blue Jay Holiday (Pierce), Control (Townsend), Peace Pattern (Lambertson), Rippling Ripples (Lambertson), Four Eyes (Lambertson).


5. What are some of your favorite introductions?  Subhana: My favorite introductions are:
Solomon's Sunrise, Awake Until Dawn, If It Be Your Will, Idiosyncrasy, Contrapuntal, Eyes of the Beloved, Rivers of Kisses, Do What You Love, General Perplexity, Unexpected Grace, Secret of Secrets, Infinite Mystery, Dance Me to the End of Love (not official yet).

Here are some of Subhana Ansari's seedlings for you to enjoy:

 Subhana has used the daylily, Tully Mars (Dan Hansen) a lot and here are some intros from it:

Thank you Subhana for this opportunity to see your program up close.  There is a part 2 you can see if you keep scrolling down which has more pictures of her intros.  All pictures are the property of Subhana Ansari and use without prior consent is prohibited. You can see more of Subhana's intros at http://www.flourishingdaylilies.com/ Thanks for stopping in.  Next up will be a visit with Clyde Grammon of Louisiana.  Happy Gardening!

A visit with Subhana Ansari, Part 2.

   Here is the Part 2 of my segment with Subhana Ansari.  She has such a wonderful program that I had to break it down into two parts.  Here is the second part which features pictures from her Monday Night Lights Daylily Presentation.  These are some of her introductions:

Blue eyed daylilies from across the country.

                                Secretariat (Future intro, Paul K. Lewis)

                                 Reagan Ann Raymond (John Kulpa)

Those two daylilies above would make an excellent cross, right?!  John Kulpa and I will hopefully both be growing each others intros of each in the years to come, so hopefully that cross will happen.  Both introductions are out of Karol Emmerich's intro, All Things to All Men.  A double dose of those genentics would be awesome.  So, I thought I would put together a picture collection of some of the most exciting daylilies with blue or shades of blue in the eye zones.  To my knowledge no one has hybridized a true blue daylily, but as the eye zones get bigger, so are the chances that this might happen one day.  Hopefully in my lifetime.  So with nothing further, here is the picture show:

                       Pandora's Charm (Guy Pierce) Photo by Paul K. Lewis

                          Tessa Ann (Dan Hansen) Photo by Paul K. Lewis

                                             Daniel Robarts seedling

                                           Daniel Robarts seedling

                                          Mike Holmes seedling

                      Measure of Rulers (Paul Owen) Photo by Theresa Maris

                                            Theresa Maris seedling

                                         Mary Baker seedling 1532

           Bridge of Destiny (Elizabeth Salter) Diploid. Photo by Patrick Guidry

       Idealistic Dreamer (Subhana Ansari 2018 intro) photo by Paul K. Lewis

                       Caribbean Blue (Bill Waldrop) Photo by Bill Waldrop

                    Drop it like it's hot (William Marchant) Photo by Rita Mallon

                                   William Marchant seedling 13-18

                                  William Marchant seedling 14-33

                        Forty Two (James Townsend) Photo by Paul K. Lewis

                        Ocean Lotus (Guy Pierce) photo by Robert Rinehart

                         Heavenly I'm seeing blue (Jamie Gossard) Diploid

                                 The Heavens are Telling (Carol Sims)

                Jewel Eyed Julie (Luddy Lambertson) Photo by Paul K. Lewis

                                         Rainbow Reef (Eric Simpson)

                                        Denim Sky (Eric Simpson)
               

                        Blue Tattoo (Robert Selman) Photo by Dave Mussar

                         Everyday Blue Genes (Clyde Grammon 2017 intro)

Amazing collection of blue eyed daylilies there.  Some of these are already sold out or very hard to get.  I think it's safe to say that blue eyed daylilies are very popular!  I am sure there are some that I forgot to include, but it wasn't intentional.  I only have so much time to put this together.  Please join us for the next segment where I will feature the daylilies of Subhana Ansari of Pinole, California.